James Madison Downs Football, 17-14 At Rainy McGuirk

Nov. 14, 2009

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AMHERST, Mass. - UMass finished its home regular-season with a tough 17-14 loss to James Madison on Senior Day at a rainy McGuirk Stadium. It was James Madison's first win in Amherst since 1987, UMass was unbeaten in the last six (5-0-1). Both teams are 5-5 overall and 3-4 in the CAA.

UMass senior tailback Tony Nelson had his 11th career 100-yard game with 117 on 18 carries and a touchdown. Sophomore Jonathan Hernandez gained 40 yards on the ground along with a 16-yard score.

James Madison gained 212 rushing yards as tailback Scott Noble (105) and quarterback Justin Thorpe (89) had big days. Thorpe also threw for 120 yards on 8-of-13.

Thorpe completed a desperation pass to Rockeed McCarter for 42 yards with less than three minutes on 3rd-and-11 from the UMass 39-yard line. That continued the Dukes' drive as they were able to exhaust much of the clock.

Linebackers Tyler Holmes (14) and Perry McIntyre (11) each had double-figure tackle totals for UMass.

Nelson went over the 100-yard mark for the fourth time this season with a 6-yard rushing touchdown to bring UMass to back within one score, 17-14 with 3:25 left in the third quarter. That touchdown also was the 22nd of Nelson's career, tying him for sixth on UMass' career list with former NFL quarterback Greg Landry.

James Madison quarterback Justin Thorpe extended JMU's lead to 17-7 on a 21-yard rushing TD up the middle with 4:03 left in the first half.

The Minutemen opened the second quarter with a 16-yard touchdown run by Jonathan Hernandez up the middle to cut the lead to 10-7, just six seconds into the period. JMU had a chance to extend its lead with 10:15 left in the half, but Dixon Wright's 36-yard field goal attempt bonked off the left upright.

UMass turned the ball over three times in the game's first 13:01 and James Madison scored 10 points on the turnovers. Jamaris Sanders ripped the ball from Tony Nelson's hands and returned it 38 yards for a 10-0 JMU lead.

James Madison converted an early UMass turnover to take a 3-0 lead. Jon Williams striped the ball from Tony Nelson and JMU took over on the 6-yard line as Scotty McGee recovered the ball. The Minuteman defense was stout in holding the Dukes to a 20-yard field goal by Dixon Wright with 7:00 left in the first quarter. On third-and-goal at the 1-yard, senior Brandon Collier stuffed Scott Noble for a 2-yard loss.

UMass closes the 2009 regular season at Hofstra next week as the Minutemen and Pride battle at 1 p.m., on Long Island.

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